


A Different Start Could Lead to Better End

by SoftBubbles



Category: That '70s Show
Genre: 1970s, Alternate Universe, Cute, English class, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Lies, Love, Mainly pre-slash, School, Story, The Gang - Freeform, hangin' out, kiss, maybe smut if I figure out how to write it, no jackie and kelso, season two, the girl from sacred heart, they had a toxic relationship, zen - Freeform, zenmasters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-18
Updated: 2020-07-01
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:40:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 13,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21853081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SoftBubbles/pseuds/SoftBubbles
Summary: Instead of Hyde meeting her as Kelso's annoying girlfriend, what if he met her as his annoying English partner, whom he quickly learns is more than she seems. Set somewhere in season two.
Relationships: Eric Forman/Donna Pinciotti, Jackie Burkhart/Steven Hyde, Kitty Forman/Red Forman, Laurie Forman/Michael Kelso
Comments: 106
Kudos: 347





	1. Chapter 1

Point Place High, September 1977

Hyde ripped open his locker and threw his Science and Spanish textbooks inside. Kelso was trying to brag about what he did with Laurie last night, but thankfully Donna frogged him before he went too far. It's disgusting enough that he's doing it with Eric's sister/the devil/the town whore and that he's cheating on his girl, Tammy, but does he really have to share? Hyde adjusted his sunglasses on his nose and riffled through a pile of loose papers to find his English homework. Ever since he started living with the Formans Red and Kitty really have been cracking down on him to try in school. He can handle it when Red yells; Edna used to get way angrier, way more often, for even less than Red. But when Kitty looks at him, all sad and disappointed when he gets a 'D', man, he can't help but promise he'll try better. He finds the paper he was looking for and shoves it inside his English textbook and slams the locker close, then leans against it as he turns around. Somehow, he managed to tune out the majority of his friends' conversation and only caught the tail end of something about whatever insane thing Donna's parents were doing last night when Tammy and her gaggle of perky, spoiled brats or as they prefer to be known as, cheerleaders. There are some good parts to them, and somewhere there probably are some cheerleaders that are actually tolerable, but as far as Hyde knows, none of them live in Point Place.

Tammy jumps up onto Kelso and gives him a big kiss on the cheek, which then prompts him to try to bring her against her the lockers to deepen the kiss but surprisingly her small arms are stronger than his and she pulls him down the hall towards her next class as she goes on about Farrah Fawcett's hair while her friends giggle and bounce behind them. We start to head down the hall while Fez begins to shake his head.

"If I had a girl like the wonderful goddess Tammy, I would never need another woman to fulfill me. I would trade all the candy in the world for her. Well, maybe not tootsie rolls. Or Fun Dip. Or..." Fez continued to list all of his favourite candies while Eric occasionally chimed in with stuff he liked. They eventually split off to get to class - Eric and Donna went up the stairs to Math, Fez took a left and headed to the gym and Hyde continued down the hall to English. He pushed open the door to his classroom and slid into his seat. One of the most annoying parts of this class was that he got stuck with a cheerleader sitting next to him. She's tried to start a conversation a few times, but he's shot her down every time. What's the point? The aforementioned cheerleader entered at that moment. She shot Hyde an annoyingly happy smile and sat on her chair next to his.

The teacher, Mr. Cherones, came around and collected the homework from the weekend. Hyde shoved his crumpled paper towards him and leaned into his hand and closed his eyes. He fell asleep for about five or ten minutes before the teacher raised his voice enough to awake him.

"For your major assignment this semester, you will be working with the person next to you to write a story. It has to be a minimum of 10 000 words and at least four chapters. You'll have no class time for this assignment other than today, so you'll have to get together on your own time. You will use the rest of the class to create a schedule with your partner and create the basis for your story." He was walking around the classroom handing out the rubric as he explained the assignment. "You may now begin." The class then erupted in conversation while the rest of the class started the project. Hyde turned towards Jackie and stared at her. She took little to no notice of his aloofness and began going on about her ideas.

"Okay," She said with a stupidly big smile "I was thinking we should do either a mystery, like Nancy Drew or a romance, like those Danielle Steel novels. Oh, have you ever read her books? They're just amazing, but I still do love Nancy Drew, don't you?" Hyde stared at her for a second. Oh my god, she's serious, he thought, stunned. "Yeah, I think she's just super." he deadpanned. Unfortunately for Hyde, she thought he was serious. She clapped excitedly and launched into a long list of all of her ideas. She stopped and stared at him after the first few, clearly expecting him to be writing them down. He heavily sighed and began to scribble down every few words just to get her to stop looking at him. It made him uneasy. She has these big eyes that just seem to peer into your soul. Must be because she's rich. Big corporations man, death of us all, he thought angrily. Seriously, out of all the people in this class, she's the one he gets stuck with. So unfair.

After what feels like forever, the bell rings and Hyde almost jumps out of his seat and bolts for the door before she can rope him into another conversation. Hyde should be heading for woodshop but instead, he heads in the opposite direction and goes out the front door and heads into the back of the Vista Cruiser for a nap. He lays down and dumps his textbook and his sunglasses onto the floor. He sleeps for about an hour until he hears his friends approaching the car. He sat up and moved his stuff so there was more room for Kelso and Fez in the back with him. Kelso rips open the car door and jumps in. Hyde wiped the sleep out of his eyes and frogged Kelso on the shoulder.

"Ow! Damn, Hyde!"

"Kelso man, shouldn't you be off suckin' some poor girls face off right now or somethin'?"

"Ew, why would he want to suck off their face? That'll just make them ugly!" Fez pulled a packet of Starbursts out of his pocket and popped a red one is his mouth. 

"How hot would a faceless chick's body have to be to make you still want to make out with her?" Kelso practically lept into this conversation. He even used some real-life examples. If Kelso was as in-depth about his schoolwork as he is about his pervertedness, he'd probably be one of the smartest guys in school. Huh. Kelso, smart. What a weird thought.


	2. Chapter Two: Damn, She Found Me

Point Place, Wisconsin  
Eric Forman's Basement

The gang was watching Jeopardy in the basement. Well, they were sorta watching. Mainly, they were whipping around the yo-yo's they found in a box in the corner at each other. Hyde swung his around really fast and managed to whack Eric, Kelso and Fez on the head at the same time, but Donna was able to notice just in time enough to duck and get him in the stomach. Kelso then tried to get back him but he just ended up hitting himself in the eye and fall to the ground. Fez then challenged Eric to a sword-fight with their yo-yo's, which quickly ended when the strings ended up getting all knotted together. They play fight for a minute more before ultimately, they all just end up sinking back into their regular seats just in time for a contestant to say, "What are, the breasts?" causing Fez and Kelso to impishly laugh and hit each other. All in all, a pretty good afternoon. That is, of course, until they walked in.

One of Tammy's favourite activities is ruining other people's fun, which is why she always found a way to make the good times awful. She swung open the basement door and as per usual, ignored everyone else in the room except for Kelso, whom of which she immediately went to and sat on his lap and said, "Hello, pookums!" before she went to kiss him. This was her annoying routine. But what's different today, however, is that she walked in with someone else. Jackie. Damn, she found me, was the first thought that crossed Hyde's mind. If Forman's voice hadn't interrupted him, a second thought involving how great that skirt showed off her legs might've occurred. 

"Who're you?"

"Hello!" the slight nervousness she had shown walking in had disappeared and been quickly replaced by her usually perky self, "I actually came to talk to Steven, we have a project for English that we didn't really finish discussing.". She looked at him expectedly, waiting for him to reply. He stared back for a second before grabbing his pop and heading out into the backyard. She got the message and followed him outside.

"So, I was thinking we could meet up two or three times a week? I have cheer on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and then games on Thursdays, but any other days I'm totally free!" Two to three times a week? He can barely stand sitting next to her for an hour every day! He was ready to tell her off, but he looked over to the house and saw Mrs. Forman inside, remembering that he promised to try harder. Taking a deep breath, he tried to find a tolerable way to do this. "I work afternoons on the weekend." There. He contributed to the conversation.

"Perfect! How about Monday and Friday afternoons?" 

"Friday? Who the hell works on a Friday?"

"Well, we could meet up during the mornings or evenings on Sunday or Saturday?" 

"Fine, Sunday evenings. We can go to your house, mine or The Hub. Is that good enough for you?" She beamed at this. Why is she happy? This is awful!

"Great! Sunday comes up first, let's meet at The Hub around 6? Are you off work by then?" 

"Yeah." At this, Hyde took another swig of his pop and turned around to go back down to the basement.

"See you then!"

"Whatever."


	3. Chapter Three: Huh. She's Not That Awful

Point Place, Wisconsin  
The Hub (and on the way to The Hub)

Hyde sauntered down the sidewalk on the way to The Hub with his hands stuffed in his pockets. He'd just worked a six and a half-hour shift and now he's absolutely starving. Leo flaked out on showing up today, and although it would usually be okay, today they had triple the amount of customers than they usually get in a week because the entirety of Point Place decided that today would be the best day to get their summer vacation pictures developed. All Hyde wanted right now was a burger, a beer and a nap. But no, oh no. Hyde has to write Nancy Drew fanfiction with Jackie Burkhart. 

He approached The Hub and pulled open the door. He scanned the room searching for the fun-sized cheerleader, but when he didn't see her he turned to step into the line to get some food. He reached into his pocket and finds just enough to either get a coke and a small fries. With all the hours he puts into the FotoHut, you'd think that he'd have enough for much more than that, but he always feels guilty that he's living there rent-free and he's not even related to them, so every week without them knowing he slips about half of his pay into Mr. and Mrs. Forman's wallets. The rest he puts into the savings account that Red opened up for him, so when he turns 18 he's ready enough to get at least a shitty apartment instead of being homeless. But he always keeps out a couple of cents in case he needs something, like food. He approached the front of the line and slid his coins over to Frank.

"Well, what. Do. You. Know. Mista' Steven Hyde isn't wasting my precious store air. Will wonders never cease." Hyde would never let him know this, but Frank's constant ridiculous deadpan is one of his favourite parts of hanging out at The Hub, but as previously mentioned he can't let him know that, so Hyde makes no expression in return and orders his food before heading towards his favourite booth in the back corner. He laid back and began to shut his eyes when he heard the door open and a pattern of clicks from high-heels made their way to him. He heard the sound of the chair next to him be dragged across the floor for a second to be followed by the thudding of books and a purse hitting the table in front of him. He only made a grunt in response to prove he's not sleeping. 

"Hello, Steven! How was your weekend?"

"Tiresome."

"Well, that makes sense seeing as you've been working all weekend. My weekend, on the other hand, was super!" Until this moment, Hyde never knew someone could use the word super to describe something without saying it sarcastically. Frank was right; wonders never will cease. "I had a sleepover with the cheer-squad the other night. We watched 'Love Story', have you ever seen it? It's sooo romantic! We also practiced some new routines, but there was one I couldn't get so I kept practicing after they'd left, and I didn't notice a nearby candle, and I accidentally burnt my hand! Can you believe it?! That's why I have a burn mark on my hand - in case you were wondering." Hyde had begun to drift off again, but this caught his attention. He opened his eyes and looked at her. She was smiling and she had her hair and makeup perfectly done. Her entire outfit cost more money than he's ever seen in his life, but he didn't focus on that like he usually does when he sees her or one of the other rich kids, no, he couldn't take his eyes off her right hand. Kelso is a stupid guy. A stupid guy that has repeatedly burnt himself and several of those times have been from a candle, so he knows what a candle burn looks like. That's not it. That looks like one of the cigarette burns his ma used to give him. He stared at it, trying to figure out how Jackie-freakin'-Burkhart had a cigarette burn and a nasty one at that. She must've noticed him staring so she reassured him that she could still write the story, but before he could protest any further, Frank started screaming for order eleven (that's him) to get up. Jackie saw that Frank was looking at him and gave him a weird look for not getting up. So he did.

For the rest of the night, Hyde picked at his fries and sipped his coke while occasionally making grunts of agreement and disagreement with what she was saying. Despite how hungry he had been when he'd walked in, he didn't really feel like eating anymore. He couldn't get his mind off of the burn on her hand. A part of him thought, 'So what? She's extremely rich and hot. She'll have no problems in life. What's a little burn every now and then? I put up with it and worse for years and never once gained any sympathy, so why should she?' and if he could, he would've frogged himself harder than he has ever frogged Kelso before. He knows how shit that situation is, and that nobody deserves to be put through it - no matter who they are. That includes Jackie.

Hyde had met Eric and Fez after protecting them from bullies and that's what he's going to do for her. He used part of his brain to listen to her and the other part to figure out who could be doing this. He's heard guys talk about her and although their comments are lewd, they're informative. She has no boyfriend and often has a big, empty house to herself. When you add in the fact that's she's hot, you get one of the best combinations a teenage boy can hope for. It'd be better if she was easy and less annoying, but hey, nobody's perfect. Anyways, that rules out an abusive boyfriend.

Next up are parents. He's never met them, but judging by the frequently empty house, they probably aren't around a lot. But it's hard to tell if it's to the point of neglect. Luckily for Inspector Hyde (oh god, why did he call himself that?), Jackie previously suggested working at her house and there's no better place to be than the (most likely) scene of the crime.

Hyde was quite pleased with his plan. He glanced up at the wall to look at the clock. They've been working for about three hours. Well, technically she'd been working and he's been working, but same difference. When he looked at Jackie and saw that she was starting to get bored too, he stood up.

"C'mon. You're bored, I'm bored. I'll walk you home. Or to your car. Or whatever." She looked momentarily stunned, but she couldn't argue with the boredom. They cleaned up their things and headed out the door. It turns out Jackie had walked, but her house isn't too far. They enjoyed the silence of the night for about a minute into the walk until Jackie started to talk about the latest episode of Three's Company, a show he honestly didn't mind. A show he honestly didn't mind being talked about by a person he's starting to not hate. Huh. She's not that awful. Who would've thought?


	4. Chapter Four: Oh no! Has Hyde Fallen Into the Social Construct of Love?!

Point Place, Wisconsin  
Eric Forman's Basement

Hyde was heading down the steps into the basement after walking Jackie home. When he brought her to the gate they ran into the maid, Lupe, who was just leaving for the night. From the words she exchanged with Jackie, he saw once more that Jackie wasn't all that bad. Briefly, before his ma went to work in the school cafeteria, Edna worked as a maid for a rich family like the Burkharts. Every day, she'd come home complaining about how rude they were and how if she could, she'd beat them as bad as she used to beat Hyde. Of course, part of the hatred between Edna and the... Grishams? is probably Edna's fault since we all know she's not made of sugar, spice and everything nice but more of a beer, cigarettes, and full of regrets kind of gal, but the one time she brought Hyde with her to work, it was like being surrounded by all of his 'Uncles' at once, but this time his ma was just as helpless as him.

Jackie, however, treated Lupe like a close friend. It was kind of nice to see, actually, because when she's in public she always seems like she's acting in a play upon a stage no one else can see. Now with Lupe, she's calmed down. Hyde wasn't sure if she'd forgotten he was here or if she was too tired to continue to put up her usual act, but he did her the small courtesy of saying a quiet good-bye as he waved and turned back towards the Formans. He spent the rest of the walk enjoying the night sky and cool air while playing the night over in his head. He was ready to declare this project as one of the worst things to occur to him thus far in his life, but so far it seems to be slowly creeping over to the not-so-terrible side. 

He swung the door open and wasn't surprised to see the gang still lounging around the basement. Eric had his scrawny arm around Donna's shoulders and Kelso was balancing Tammy on his lap while she filed her nails (and occasionally swiped Kelso's hands away when he tried to make any sort of advances), and Fez (much to his own personal disappointment) was sitting alone on the chair closest to the door while shoving fistfuls of candy into his mouth. They all jumped a little when Hyde slammed the door close. He crossed the room while shrugging off his jacket and pulling a pop out of the freezer and plopping down in his favourite chair.

"Ah, my lazy Americain hero is back! Finally, I am no longer the only basement bachelor!" Fez said while beaming at Hyde.

"I don't know Fez, that all might be changed depending on how his date with Jackie Burkhart went tonight!" Donna exclaimed. Eric laughed along with her "Oh no, has Hyde fallen to the social construct of love?", and Fez frowned, "Alone again. Ai.".

"Damn Hyde, I've been trying to get at Jackie Burkhart for ages! Do you think you could get her to swing by my place when you're done with her?" Tammy whacked him hard for that one, "Ow! What was that for!".

"I'll deal with you later Michael! What do you mean Hyde went out with Jackie Burkhart? Do you know how seriously wrong that is?" She screeched. "This is insanity! I have tried to set her up with a countless number of handsome jocks, and she chooses the scruffy burnout?!"

"I didn't go on a date with Jackie Burkhart. We just have an English project to do together, okay. Calm your tits, Tammy." At this, Tammy huffed heavily and pulled Kelso out of the basement with her, but when the door slammed Hyde got lucky and they didn't turn all their attention back to him and instead to Farrah Fawcett when she appeared on the screen. 

Hyde put his feet up and let go of some tension in his shoulders that he didn't know he had. This was a re-run so he let his mind wander and after a while, it wandered all the way to Jackie. Jack-ie. He liked the way her name sounds. Jack-ie. It suits her. It suits her like her cheery smiles, her bright eyes and her sweet-sounding voice, all of which don't fit with cigarette-burns and cover-up stories. She was a beautiful enigma, and he'll be damned if he doesn't find a way to figure her out.


	5. Chapter Five: Just The Monday Morning Blues, Doll

(Switching to Jackie POV for this one)

Jackie bounced into the front doors of Point Place High with a cheery smile she shared with every person she passed in the hall. With her perfectly applied makeup and her hair done into adorable curls, she's quite sure she brightens up everyone's morning. Taking a left at the corner, she arrived at her locker, grabs her lock, spins 23-41-08 and pulls open her locker to reveal her well-decorated interior consisting of lots of glitter and flowers plastered all around and several pictures of her with the rest of the cheer-squad. She'd refer to them as friends, but they aren't really. In all honesty, Jackie doesn't really know what they are to her, but they are much too cruel and judgmental to ever be counted as friends. It's almost like they're all just younger versions of her mother. That's why she tries to mean every smile and compliment she gives because if she didn't, she'd just be like them. Just like her mother.

Unfortunately, every smile nowadays just seems a little too forced and the compliments now seem mandatory instead of a way to brighten the day. It's probably because both of her parents are in town right now and the tension within the Burkhart mansion is always this close to causing them all to explode. Jackie recently made the terrible discovery that her parents are either swingers or are both cheating on the other. She'd gone downstairs to get a glass of water before she went to bed when she saw her mother stumble in with lips attached to a strange man. They laughed and kissed all the way up the stairs followed by Pam pulling him into one of the guest bedrooms. Before Jackie could even process what she just saw, she heard her father leave his den with two whorish-ly dressed women on either side of him. 

He kissed them both good-bye and led them out the door. That's when he spotted a horror-struck Jackie staring at him from the kitchen. He ushered her up to her bedroom and said that they'll discuss it in the morning, but of course when morning came she found a pretty pearl necklace with matching earrings on her nightstand and an apology note from her father laying atop them. She originally wanted to throw them across the room but when she saw her mother's reaction she found that she'd much rather pearls to cigarette burns.

When she descended the stairs she found her mother lounging in the living with what must've been her third glass of wine in one hand and a cigarette in the other. Her mother rose from where she lay, placed the glass on the table and slinked towards where Jackie stood. Turns out, Pam had seen her in the kitchen the night prior but chose to ignore her and save her lesson for what happens to girls who don't mind their own business. 

She squeezed her eyes shut to forget Sunday morning and the fact that it led to her having to lie to Steven, which is not a good way to start off a friendship. She just hopes that he didn't get too good of a look at her hand. From various rumours she's heard while gossiping with Olive Cross and the rest of the cheer-squad (but mainly Olive; they all like to gossip, but Olive knows just about everything that happens in this school, from the illegal-doings of some of our faculty to the real reason why Katie Byers had to leave the team this year), Steven used to be very poor and not to be rude or anything, but poor people don't exactly have the best track record with being nice and non-abusive, and she often saw his mom (who used to be the lunch-lady here) smoke at school. 

Jackie took one last look in the mirror before closing her locker and strutting down the hall to her first class of the day - math. She quickened her pace, however, when she saw Steven just a few feet ahead of her.

"Good morning, Steven!" 

"What's so good about it?" He huffed out trying to slightly pick up his pace but little did he know, despite being so short, Jackie can actually move quite fast.

"I see someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed!" 

"Just the Monday morning blues, doll." At that, he went down a different hall than her towards whatever class he had first, leaving her alone with her thoughts. Thoughts that include figuring out why she felt a burst of warmth throughout her body when he called her 'doll', but that thought dispersed by the time she arrived at her class, in which she was more focused on when he'll call her that again.


	6. Chapter Six: You Are Now My Hero!

(Still in Jackie POV)

Jackie bounced down the emptying corridor and went to find Hyde's locker in hopes of spotting the frizzy-haired burnout so they can walk to her house together. She gazed over the various faces lining the lockers until she saw his friend Michael (the tall and pretty, but still creepy guy), which quickly directed her to Steven. 

As she got closer to his locker she noticed that besides Michael, Steven was also talking to his friends Eric (doll-loving twig), Donna (lumberjack who once hit her with a dodgeball), Fez (pervy foreigner who her friend Cathy once found looking through a peep-hole into the girls' locker room) and Tammy (one of the biggest snobs in town, but since she's a cheerleader Jackie has to tolerate her). Jackie felt a small wave of regret wash over her as she realized that she shouldn't intrude, as he probably doesn't want to see her right now because he'd rather hang out with his friends, which is something he definitely doesn't see her as, and she should just wait for him somewhere else (even though she knows that the only way to arrange that to work would be to talk to him). 

She decides to try to just try to casually keep walking past and just use the staircase ahead of her to get up on the second floor and then go down another staircase to get to the door because it would look really weird to anyone watching her (she's Jackie Burkhart; someone's always watching her) if she just walked half-way into the hallway and then just turned around, which would cause them to think she's weird, lost and/or confused a.k.a. three of many things she should never be (she's been taught from a very young age to always be pretty and perky at all times no matter where she is or who she's with, "Image is everything" is one of her mother's favourite phrases). She begins to pass the group by when Tammy spots her.

"Jackie! Oh my god, is that a new sweater? I LOVE it! It totally gives you the extra boost you need, if you know what I mean." Jackie smiles sharply back at Tammy. Of course, she knows what she meant. Tammy, like many of the girls at their school, has much bigger boobs than Jackie, which is often pointed out to her by her fellow cheerleaders. Which is why she's often needed to be able to quickly snap back.

"Aw, thanks Tam-Tam! And might I add, I LOVE your sweater too! I just think it's so inspiring that you still feel confident enough to wear such a tight sweater even with all that extra weight you've put on recently. It shows that you don't care about people whispering about you possibly carrying Michael's idiotic baby or that Julie's demoting you to the bottom of the pyramid because she doesn't want any of the other girls hurting themselves trying to hold you up. You go girl!" At this, Michael yelled "Burn!", and Tammy shrieked and pulled him down the hall with her. Jackie felt kinda bad, but the bitch had it coming.

"Um, hi, my name is Eric, and you are now my hero!" Jackie suddenly became very aware that several sets of eyes were on her all throughout the hall (somebody said cat-fight at some point while she was talking so a lot of people tuned in), but she blocked them out and briefly focused on the scrawny bowl-haired boy in front of her.

"Well, thank you, Eric! I'm glad you've come to recognize my amazingness. Now, Steven, I've come to ask if you still want to come to my house to work on the project, or if you want to re-schedule if you have something else you want to do." She shifted her eyes from Eric to Steven and noticed a small smile playing on his lips, possibly from her small fight with Tammy, which gave her the sensation of butterflies dancing around in her stomach.

"Nah, I've got nothing else going on." Steven walked towards her and they started down the hall side-by-side, causing their shoulders to occasionally brush against hers and giving her more butterflies. This is going to be a long walk.


	7. Chapter Seven: The Tall Blonde Woman

(Back to Hyde)

Jackie lead Hyde back up to the large, metal gates he had dropped her off on Sunday evening. Going further, she brought him up a long, winding path through an incredibly beautiful garden. He walked a few feet behind her (their conversation having had finished a couple of minutes ago) and from Hyde's point of view, she looked like one of those enchanting fairies or pixies he heard about in fairy tales or saw in cartoons from when he was younger. 

The afternoon sun framed around her perfectly and gave her a sunny glow, the way her skirt flowed around her and how all of the flowers along the path seemed to turn to face her made her seem like she had been plucked right off of Mount Olympus away from all the other goddess' and was sent to live among the humans to give them some more grace and beauty. This, of course, is yet another thing Hyde would never admit aloud - he's barely admitting it to himself. 

Jackie turned her head back briefly to check to see if he's still following her and sent him a soft smile before revealing that they had reached the point where the house is finally visible. He could feel his eyes widening a little as he took in the house. Just about everything in front of him made him feel unaccomplished but the fact that for the next couple of hours he gets to take advantage of it makes him feel a bit better.

Jackie slipped a small, silver key out of her purse and jiggled it around in the lock for a second before swinging the door open to reveal a foyer that's about twice the size his house that he once shared with his Ma was. Spinning around on her heel, Jackie cleared her throat.

"Uh, so this is my house. Lupe said she made brownies earlier for us to eat, which means we have to work in the dining room." Briefly studying her face, he could tell she was a little nervous, which he kinda got. The Burkhart's were the richest family in town, which means that they have the biggest house so it's probably always been a little awkward bringing people home for her, so he tried to lighten the mood.

"I don't suppose there is any sort of special ingredient in these brownies are there?" She didn't get what he meant at first, but when he began waggling his eyebrows she began to giggle and shake her head. Mission accomplished.

She pointed towards a doorway a little to the left of them, "The dining room's in there, go sit at the table while I get the brownie's and some milk.". 

Hyde sauntered through the door and sunk into one of the chairs. He knew he looked incredibly out of place amongst all the expensive decorations and the chandelier above his head, but he didn't care. Jackie wanted him here, and even he couldn't deny the light smile that thought spread across his face. He took out his notebook and a pencil and placed it on the table and while he waited for Jackie he began to doodle.

He thought something was off when he had almost drawn an entire Trans-Am and Jackie still hadn't arrived, but he knew something was wrong when he heard something break. He set down his pencil and headed back into the foyer to walk into the kitchen to see what the hold-up was with Jackie, but what he saw stopped him dead in his tracks.

Hyde was just able to catch the tail-end of whatever scene had just unfolded in front of him, but he had seen enough to understand what had happened. A tall blonde woman (her mother?) stood above Jackie who was crying on the floor while trying to pick up pieces of the now-broken plate that once held the brownies, which he could see had been thrown against the wall. The woman glared down at Jackie for a second more before heading off to some other part of the house. Amazingly, she did this without even seeing Hyde, who was just standing in the doorway with his mouth slightly open.

He was at a complete loss for words and couldn't even move for a few seconds, but once he regained control he moved towards the girl on the floor who had gone from looking like someone out of a fairy tale to as if she was made of porcelain and was just seconds away from smashing into the floor. He knelt down and began picking up the pieces of the plate with her, almost making her fall over into the mess in surprise.

"Steven! I told you to wait in the dining room!". There it was again. Unnecessary shame and embarrassment spread across her face as she processed what he might've just seen.

"Jackie, man, are you okay? What the hell just happened?". Her face flushed and she jumped to her feet and pulled him up with her and brought him back into the dining room.

"I'm sorry, okay? I didn't realize she'd be home today, I thought she was going out with some friends or something, but you have to leave." She passed him his notebook and pencil and shooed him out the door.

"What're you apologizing for? Also, I can't leave you here! C'mon Jackie, I'll drive you to the Hub or to one of your friend's, but I can't let you stay here!" She's small, but a lot stronger than he ever gave her credit for.

"I can't leave, it'd just make it worse. But that's fine because it's not even that bad anyway. I'll find a way to make up for the lost project time - I promise. Good-bye, Steven. See you in class tomorrow." At that, she managed to get him out, and left him with one hell of a dilemma. On the one hand, he can't leave her there with that woman, but on the other, if he takes her out it'll be worse. 

Hyde thought about it all the way back to the Forman's and was still at a loss, but he knew he'd think of something. He had to.


	8. Chapter Eight: Brilliant Blue

(Jackie POV)

The lunch bell rang but was soon drowned out by students jumping up and rushing around to make the most out of their half-hour of freedom. Jackie exited her classroom and almost by reflex turned to head towards the main staircase to get down to her locker and the cafeteria but to avoid any run-ins with Hyde she had to make some changes to her daily routine.

It's been two days since he came to her house and met Pam and she has been avoiding him ever since so she didn't have to talk about what he saw. The second that he left she devised an entirely new route for her to take after each and every class - even if some of them are incredibly inconvenient. With these new routes, she was able to not see him at all on Tuesday and so far not once Wednesday morning. 

The only parts that she didn't have planned out were English class and after school. Yesterday, she got incredibly lucky with them having a test (who would've ever thought that those could ever be useful for anything?) and the teacher making them separate their desks, and then after cheer Sarah-Grace invited her over to her family's salon, and Jackie knew that Hyde would sooner lay down in traffic before stepping foot in the "Sassy Song Sister's Salon". Unfortunately, she probably won't get that lucky today.

She went up one of the side staircases to go up to the third floor so she can then walk all the way to the opposite side and then go down to the first floor to get to her locker and then go all the way back up to third to eat (do you see the aforementioned inconvenience?). She would just use the staircase she's using now to get to first, but that would lead her right in front of his locker, just like how the main staircase would bring her right in front of the cafeteria.

She prided herself for being so clever in her little plan, especially since everyone knows that the best place to hide is on the third floor because it is completely deserted during lunch except for... shit, shit, shit! Except for burnouts! The colour drained from Jackie's face as her breath quickly shortened and her head became clouded with fearful and panicking thoughts. What should she do?

Jackie had never told anyone about her mother before, she's not even sure if her dad knows. She knows that whenever Pam is home too long he just happens to leave brochures for long cruises and hotels in faraway countries laying around, but that could be just because he himself cannot stand her and the only reason he hasn't divorced her is because he likes to parade her around in front of his friends and their less attractive wives. 

Jackie doesn't think she'll go to hell, but she imagines that if she does she'll be tortured by having to live with her mother for the rest of eternity. When she was younger, she used to try to find ways to hide whenever her mom came home but no matter where she went she would always be found, yelled at, and then beaten because Pam Burkhart always gets what she wants and if she wants Jackie in pain, she'll be in pain. No matter what she has to do to get to her, whether it be showing up at her school with a pretty smile and false appointments or going to her friends' homes and pulling her out of sleepovers proclaiming the death of false relatives and squeezing her hand to the point of loss of blood circulation so she'd agree to their existence and leave. Jackie could hire the entire U.S. army to protect her, and with a simple removal of her shirt, Pam would have her again.

To clear her head and devise a new plan, Jackie opened the door into a nearby janitor's closet to hide in, but instead of being greeted by the scent of bleach and ammonia, she found a much different smell paired with four sets of shocked eyes and a pair of sunglasses where the only emotion showed comes from the eyebrows lifted high above them. She let out a small squeak of shock before heading out just as he called out her name.

She began to run down the hall before rounding the corner and ducking into an empty classroom. She lent against the wall and placed a hand to her chest to feel her heart pounding hard against it as she deeply inhaled and exhaled to calm herself down, which proved pointless when Steven Hyde burst open the door again causing her heart to speed up and her breathing pattern once again became abnormal and jagged in anticipation of the incoming conversation.

"Jackie."

"Hey, Steven. How are you?" She tried to make herself sound normal, just on the off chance that he'd forgotten about Monday. 

"Well other than the fact that you've been avoiding me ever since I met your insane mother and that I can't help but think of all the other horrible stuff she could be doing to you, pretty good." He calmly shut the door as he said this, the tone of his words suggested he was anything but.

"I'm sorry. I just... I didn't know what to say or do if I saw you. I've never talked about her before."

"Never? Not to your dad or to your friends?"

"My dad tends to work a lot more whenever my mom is home because he doesn't really like being around her either, so there isn't much of an opportunity to say anything, and my friends are really only good at talking about surface-level stuff, like the latest gossip or boys. I don't even know how I could even suggest a serious conversation with them." Jackie doesn't really count them as friends, but divulging into the fact that she doesn't have any true friends would make this conversation even more deep and uncomfortable than it already is.

"Jackie," his voice has softened a lot more now, and he had taken off his sunglasses, showcasing their brilliant blue. "You need to have someone to talk to. You need to do something about this, okay? This isn't right."

"It's fine, Steven, really. Thank you for caring, but it's fine. The longest my mother ever stays is about a month and it's already been two weeks. I've been able to handle the past sixteen years so I can handle another week or two." 

He moved closer to her, and although she appreciated the ability to get to gaze into his eyes, the colour of which can only be described as intoxicating, she soon realized that since she was against the wall she had no room to back-up so she had to stay close to him, inhaling his masculine yet enthralling cologne, feeling his hot breath against her skin, and having his beautiful eyes gaze upon her face as she slowly began to get lost in the warmth that came from the icy colour, wishing that the safety and let's be honest, arousal, she is feeling now being something that she had access to all the time. But she doesn't, and she shouldn't now, and since she couldn't spray on a new cologne or make him stop breathing, she reluctantly pulled her eyes away from his and instead looked at the ground.

"That's just it, Jackie. You shouldn't have to handle it, or even know how to handle it in the first place." He moved his hands up to her upper arms and gently moved them up and down in a comforting way before lightly placing them on the curve of her shoulders. "Hey, look at me." He lifted a finger to her chin and tilted her face towards him, causing her to get lost in his eyes once more, "You know that none of this is your fault right?"

"I guess? But it is partially my fault, in a way. I mean, after sixteen years of living with her I should know how to not set her off, but I always mess up." His shoulders drooped and the warmth in his eyes began to become mixed with sadness before he pulled her in tightly for a hug. 

Without even realizing it, Jackie wrapped her arms around his waist and felt her eyes water just a little. She'd never tell him this, but this is the first time in her whole life anyone's ever comforted her or made her feel better. Her dad has tried, but he's always had trouble expressing himself and often ends up substituting money for emotion, but then again she's met her grandparents and there is a high chance that is all he's ever known.

"You can't go back to that house, Jackie. I can't let you. Or else I'll never be able to sleep cause I'll be too busy worrying about you, and then I'll be even crankier than usual." She sniffled a little and let out a small chuckle at the end, but she didn't dare move away from his chest.

"It's fine for today, I have cheer until four-thirty and she tends to leave for the night around six so by the time I get home I'll have just over an hour with her, and she probably won't do anything too bad in case it messes up her appearance."

"Cheer practice is done at four-thirty?"

"Yeah."

"I'll be waiting in the parking lot then." At that, the bell rang and he pulled away from her causing her body to hit with the cool air of the room and for her to long to be close to him again. 

He slid his sunglasses back onto his face, covering her new favourite colour, and then held the door open for her and they walked side by side throughout the halls together to get to English. They didn't say anything, but occasionally, their hands would brush against each other and she would feel a spark run throughout her body without knowing that he was feeling the exact same thing.


	9. Chapter Nine: Bowl Me Over

(Hyde POV)

Hyde lent up against the school wall and watched the cheer team and the football players exit from the locker rooms and disperse into their cars, scanning their faces to find Jackie. He'd been so fucking worried these past few days that not even the circle could help him out. He knew that just because the Burkhart's were rich doesn't mean that they're nice people - the majority of the people he hates are rich, but he always hated those snotty, uptight people for being snotty and uptight. It never crossed his mind that someone as pretty as Pam Burkhart was the uptown equivalent to his Ma. It's weird and wrong, and if there wasn't a one hundred percent chance he'd go to jail for punching her in the face, he would.

Jackie bounded up to him just before he was about to lose his mind from staring at all these preppy faces (although they sometimes did go away when they spotted him against the wall), and he unintentionally spreads a grin of his own to match hers.

"Sooo, Steven! What do you want to do? I have my daddy's Lincoln, by the way." Well, that's a major relief for him since the only mode of transportation he brought were his own two legs. But he's still a little stressed because he kind of forgot to think of something to do. 

"I didn't really get that far. Wanna just drive?" Hyde kind of expected her to get mad, but she didn't. Instead, she just nodded, causing her ponytail to sway and bob up and down almost hypnotically. 

She spun on her heel and headed up to the far left of the parking lot with him about a foot behind, making him a little reminiscent of Monday and how beautiful she looked in the garden. But thinking of Monday dragged him back to the Burkhart's kitchen, and Pam.

He shook those thoughts out of his head. This whole afternoon was about keeping her happy and safe, and dwelling on her home life is something that definitely brings down the mood. Or it should at least. That empty classroom at lunch gave him some insight into what she's going through, but somehow amidst the tears and confessions, there was... something. Something nice? He liked it at least. Until he started to get bored during his last class and his mind wandered back to lunch. Back to her. Back to her in a way it shouldn't have.

Jackie had climbed into the passenger's seat after handing him the keys. Hyde slid into the seat and immediately felt out of place. But he reminded himself once more that this is for her, and if him driving makes her happy, then so be it.

Hyde started up the car only to hear Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds to start playing. He shoots her an impressed side-glance and she merely shrugs her shoulders. He used to think she only ever listened to ABBA, but by now he knows to no longer assume when it comes to Jackie Burkhart. Actually, he shouldn't assume when it comes to anybody, but you know, one step at a time and all.

They start discussing the Beatles, since it may be the only musical interest they share, but to be fair she admitted to never hearing a lot of the songs from other bands he likes, so who knows. They end up driving onto Wicker Drive and get near the bowling alley.

"We have a bowling alley?" She said suddenly a little puzzled.

"For like the past ten years, yeah. Haven't you ever seen it?"

"No, I don't usually come to this part of town." He would've dropped it or casually suggested going, but then he remembered that this is the only bowling alley in town, and bowling on vacation doesn't seem like something rich people would do so that only means...

"Are you saying you've never gone bowling?!" Hyde didn't mean to feel so shocked, but bowling is the only sport he doesn't mind participating in and it just seems like such a normal thing to do, it never occurred to him that anybody might've never been - if that makes sense.

"Well... no, but it seems fun? If you don't mind, we could always stop in there?" He did an almost dangerous swerve (emphasis on the almost) and pulled them into the parking lot. Someone had to take her to enjoy America's Favourite (and easiest) Pastime, and it might as well be him.

He swung the door open and held it for him (because Hyde is nothing if not a gentleman), and welcomed her to the strange, yet comforting scent of the alley. He glanced over at Jackie as she took in the smell, the vivid blue and red lockers, the dingy wooden panels on the floors and the uncomfortably stained carpet. He kind of thought she'd reject it, or at least make a comment about it - everyone does - but she smiled up at him and began to head to the counter for shoes only looking over at him for clarification that this is where she is supposed to go.

Gary was a dirty old man. Dirty in the sense of inappropriate and in the sense of literal dirt. Hyde always wondered what the hell that man did all day to get like that, but he came to the conclusion it'd be better for his sanity if he didn't know. Gary peered at her in a such a way that Hyde was glad that Gary was actually one of his 'Uncles' and simply glaring at the man from over his sunglasses stopped the man from doing anything.

Uncle Gary immediately grabbed twelves for Hyde and sevens for Jackie after she made the number with her fingers. He slid Gary the majority of the cash he had in his pocket and led Jackie to the alley at the far end, stopping briefly a few times since he knew just about everybody there that day.

"And here I thought you were anti-social." Jackie joked while slipping on her shoes (and trying to hide her disgust of wearing used shoes).

"You know what they say; to assume is to make an ass out of you and me." He's well aware he's in no position to say that to her, but in the interest of joking around it probably doesn't matter too much.

"So, uh, how does bowling work?" She was sheepish as she asked this, but instead of replying with words he merely shot her a wolf-like grin.

Hyde spent about ten minutes showing her how to hold the ball without dropping it, the best stance, how to aim etc. He managed to block out the fact of how close he had to stand next to her to do so, saving those thoughts for when the basement is cleared out later tonight (of course, he doesn't know that yet). He set up the game and grabbed the bowling ball out of the rack.

"I'm up first. Ready to be amazed?"

"Oh, yes. Bowl me over with your spectacular bowling abilities." Playful sarcasm dripped from her lips, and he felt good. Wait, what's better than good? Oh, right. Hyde felt fucking amazing. And he's gonna hate himself when he fucks it up and loses her forever.


	10. Chapter Ten: Just Like Paris

(Hyde's POV)

As it turns out, Jackie is an incredibly fast learner. After losing the first two rounds, due to inexperience, but the third she managed to win and although it wasn't by much, it still made her entire face light up and had her jumping up and down - and then into Hyde's arms. 

In a matter of seconds, she had spun up and around on her heel then lept at him, wrapping her small arms around his neck. The surprise made him act without thought, so he moved to enclose her within his own arms and join in with her laughter as it was more infectious than any sickness or germ science could create.

"I can't believe I beat you!" If anyone else were to say this, he most likely would've frogged them but Jackie wasn't trying to insult him or be rude in any sort of way, she was just happy for achieving something she didn't she could - at least not so soon.

"You did good." Hyde set her down but continued sending her a smile full of pride. 

"Could you take me again sometime?" And with that, bowling became their weekly thing, every Wednesday night.

The pair turned in their shoes prior to leaving the alley, and then after witnessing a blonde vomiting a few feet away from the door, they got back into Jackie's car. He got the car running while she put the Beatles back on before they relaxed into a comfortable silence as Hyde drove them to a place he hadn't yet disclosed to Jackie.

In the corner of his eye, he could see Jackie leaning against the window as she watched the scenery roll past and tapped her hand on her lap to the beat of the song. Most girls he drives around are pretty much the physical antithesis of Jackie Burkhart, with either too much or no makeup and sleazy clothing - which he likes, but there's something angelic to him about her that he can't resist.

When they arrive at the water tower, it took a little convincing to get Jackie to go up the 'rickety, filthy deathtrap' as she called it, but eventually, she climbed (while she not so subtly muttered about getting tetanus) and he went up after her, which gave him a certain image to save for later.

He sat down before she did as Jackie initially opted for bracing herself on the railing, her uncertainty of the safety of the situation growing stronger, but she soon gave in and relaxed next to him on the edge.

"Wow."

"Yeah. Who would've thought that a place as shitty as Point Place could look this great?"

"Mmhm. From up here, I think it looks just like Paris." Hyde turned to face her to give her a weird look for her comment but got trapped by how she looked in the moonlight.

The Paris-like-view that he loved moments ago became dull when he saw how she stood out amongst it. Her smooth, porcelain skin and how it contrasts her dark hair and the intensity of her eyes. Hyde also can't help but notice how there was no space between them. Hyde also noticed how easy it would be to just lean over and kiss her. 

But then again the surprise could make her fall. That's why isn't going to. Not because he's afraid. Steven Hyde isn't afraid of anything. It's for her safety, not his. But there is nothing wrong with offering her his jacket, especially with how cold it is out tonight.

Hyde shrugged off the jean jacket he was wearing and after exchanging a quick look of consent with Jackie, he placed it gently over her shoulders and then adjusted it so it covered her arms a bit more - for warmth, not because he wanted to touch her again.

The two of them stayed on the tower for another hour or two, alternating between general getting to know you questions and comfortable bouts of silence before heading to the Burkhart mansion. Hyde had even escorted her all the way to her door, to make sure Pam was nowhere in sight.

"I had a great time tonight, Steven." He didn't bother telling her it's Hyde.

"Me too." He smiled down at her, making eye contact without wearing his sunglasses (twice in one day with the same person, that's new).

"Goodnight!" And then before he knew what was happening, Jackie and gone onto her toes and kissed him on the cheek before darting inside. Hyde felt his face flush as he lifted his hand to his cheek.

"Goodnight." He said softly, despite having been left alone on the porch. Unless of course, the butterflies in his stomach count as company.


	11. Chapter Eleven: Perfect

(Jackie's POV)

Jackie dashed inside at high speed, not slowing down until she reached her bedroom. She slammed the door closed and looked over to her vanity to see her once porcelain skin flushed an embarrassing pink. Her lips were buzzing and she felt light-headed, causing her to stumble over to her bed and collapse onto it, completely devoid of the grace she usually carries within her movements.

What is _wrong_ with her? She kissed him! Albeit on the cheek, but that doesn't make the situation any better. The fact that she wishes that she kissed him on a place that was barely an inch away from where she did certainly doesn't help it either. 

Jackie hugged a flower pillow tightly to her chest, burying her face into it to hide from the world. She groans loudly into the pillow but throws it away from herself when the fluffy exterior tickled her nose too much, causing her to sneeze. 

Years ago, she was at a sleepover at Liz Dumas' house. Liz has always been a little boy-crazy, so it wasn't much of a surprise when she got up from where she and the other girls were playing with the Barbie Dreamhouse Liz had gotten for Christmas and went to get some markers and construction paper so they could a make a 'perfect boyfriend list'.

Jackie had kept hers, for some reason, so she rolled off her bed and after a little digging, found it in the back of her closet, tucked in between the world's ugliest hand-turkey and a test from the first-grade in which she had to spell difficult words like apple (which she spelt aple), cat (spelt kat) and a real stumper - spider (spelt spedr). 

Crawling out of her closet and up against her wall, Jackie brought her knees to her chest and read it:

**Name:** Clifford the 3rd (or something just as fancy)

**Height:** At least four inches taller

**Looks:** James Dean + Cary Grant + Gregory Peck

**Musts:** Be pretty, rich, nice, funny, make friends jealous, faithful, love Nancy Drew, be smart, buy me things, know everything about me

Underneath it, she had even drawn what she thought that leading man hybrid would look like, and taking away the obvious hideosity caused by the lack of artistic skills, Jackie had to admit he wasn't half bad. No Steven Hyde, but not bad.

She went over the list again, fitting Hyde into it. There must be some dignity in the name Steven, and he is definitely taller than her, but he obviously isn't the combination of men she had chosen (or Jacarory Dranck, she supposes the name would be as she's met a Clifford the 3rd before, and he wasn't quite so nice).

Hyde is handsome though, a faint but giddy smile appearing on her face as she thinks of him more.

Far from rich but effortlessly funny.

Probably won't make her friends jealous (the opposite, if possible), but there is no doubt in her mind that he'd stay true to her. 

Judging by how he zones out during their study sessions, he also most likely doesn't care for Nancy Drew (but she can't figure out why - what's not to love?), but he is clever. 

He might not always have money to buy her things, but Jackie can tell that even when he pretends not to, he listens to every word she says.

Jackie rises to her feet slowly, her head still far into the clouds as she thinks of him and does everything in a dream-like state. She gets changed into her pyjamas, almost putting her shirt on backwards, and trails off a few times while speaking to Lupe as she makes a small snack.

She curls up on the couch as she eats, zoning in and out as she watches Saturday Night Live. Usually, being this easily distracted would've annoyed her to no end, but when Jackie finally became aware of what was happening, all she did was giggle and head upstairs to her bathroom.

Jackie stares into the bathroom mirror for ten minutes, picturing herself in all sorts of scenarios with Hyde, practicing flirty smiles and even the tears that would fall if he proposed - what can she say? Jackie likes to plan ahead. _W_ _ay_ ahead. 

Jackie sleeps better that night than she had all week, with comforting thoughts of Steven Hyde drifting away with her into her dreams


	12. Chapter Twelve: Mostly

(Hyde's POV)

Hyde walked back to the Forman's in a daze; Jackie'd really done a number on him. He had his hands shoved deep into his jacket pockets and his expression could be best described as aloof - zen, is what he'd say if someone had asked. He'd long since mastered the expression so no one would ever know what he's thinking about, whether it be his non-existent relationship with his parents, his less than superb grades at school or how Jackie definitely could be a model.

He unlocks the door to the basement and saunters in, dropping his zen appearance once he realized no one else was there, and now that his inner emotions were able to be free, his entire body was buzzing. Hyde shrugged off his coat and sunk into the coach with a cherry pop as he ran a hand over his face.

In the past seventeen years, no one has ever had even the slightest resemblance of control over him - except maybe the Formans - but then this crazy little cheerleader shows up and completely takes over his mind. If she worked for the government, she'd probably be able to turn the entire damn country into corporate slaves.

Hyde turns the t.v. on and tries to use Baretta as a distraction from Jackie, but despite his best efforts, it just ends up becoming background noise. His gaze wanders off the screen and his vision falls out of focus as he begins to think of her.

A smile gently appears on his face as Hyde pictures her. A highlight reel of their time together plays out in his head, when they first got partnered up together in English, when she showed up in the basement in that _amazing_ skirt, that damn burn mark on her hand when they were at the hub, when she publicly destroyed Tammy in the hall, how angelic she looked walking through her garden, that brief but horrifying interaction with her mother, and then today when he got the full, upsetting story during lunch before spending the afternoon with her bowling and the evening on the water tower.

The final memory that played out, was the kiss. A kiss on the cheek that despite being incredibly innocent, arose a feeling in him that was anything but. His eyes slid half-closed as he replayed that monumental second over and over again.

Hyde's mouth had become embarrassingly dry causing him to need to quickly finish off his cherry pop. Setting the bottle down, Hyde started scanning the room to find literally anything else to think about:

The stupid helmet, the Green Bay Packers, green, nature, garden, **Jackie**.

Box of random discarded toys, Rubix cube, G.I. Joe, tiny Jedi, the yo-yos they were playing with the day **Jackie** showed up in the basement.

The guitar that Hyde could never figure out who it belongs to, Red? Eric? Kitty? Laurie? It's certainly not his, but maybe he should use it to learn. **Jackie** seems the type to be into guys who play the guitar. Fuck.

His cherry pop, cherries, popping cherries, **Jackie** (Hyde punched himself in the arm for that one - _hard_ ).

Groaning loudly in anger, he settles on thinking about the goddamn door. The door has _no_ relation to **Jackie** other than the fact that it is the only thing keeping him from running out of the basement and to her house to... do something?

Hyde blinks as he falls out of whatever trance he was just in as he realizes he doesn't know what he'd do. He certainly can't treat her the way he treated his past girlfriends/flings - Jackie is many, many, _many_ things, but she certainly wasn't the kind of girl he usually prefers. Jackie ~~wants~~ deserves romance, but is that the kind of thing _he_ can give?

A sort of chill flushes over Hyde - like someone had poured cold water over him - as he can't think of why the actual fuck he thought Jackie would want anything more than friends. She probably didn't see that little kiss as anything more than a friendly way to say goodbye to her friend. 

But now a new realization occurs because it turns out that that cold rush of water he felt wasn't just a wake-up call from the universe, it was Kelso. 

Kelso who was still at the Forman's.

Kelso who had been with the others at the Hub.

Kelso who saw a bucket, a hose, a friend and an opportunity. 

Kelso who is now being tackled to the ground.

And Kelso who is now being punched in the eye.

The others settle into their seats - despite the shockingly late hour - and have Fez change the show from Baretta to Charlie's Angels while they made fun of the soaked Hyde and the partially-blinded Kelso. 

Hyde snickers at a comment made by Eric about Kelso as Hyde grabs a towel to dry himself off. Hyde settles back into his usual seat and reminds himself that this is as good as reality will get for him and that he is mostly okay with that. _Mostly_.


	13. Chapter Thirteen: Kettle Corn

(Hyde's POV)

Hyde walked in step with Fez and Kelso and behind Eric and Donna as they made their way through the dreary hallways of Point Place High until they got to the doors that lead to the football field. They filed into the line for kettle corn, but even the promise of food couldn't stop Hyde from being pissed about being there.

He didn't really even know how he came to agree to go. He got why the others were there - Eric came because Donna wanted to, Donna wanted to go so she could write some feminist article about "how the men play sports and women are just expected to dance around them in tiny outfits for entertainment", and once she mentioned the outfits there was absolutely nothing that could stop Kelso and Fez. Hyde, on the other hand, was adamant about not going.

But then he went to English. 

He went to English and saw Jackie in her cheerleading uniform and the joy on her face when she saw him.

He then got lost in her eyes, her smile, her perfume, _her everything_.

He was so lost that he didn't even know what he had agreed to go to until the bell rang and snapped him out of his trance. 

By this point, it wasn't like he could just not go. How could he? How could he disappoint her if she looked for him in the crowd? So, Hyde accepted defeat, and when his friends were leaving to go to the game, he came with, lying and telling them that he had "nothin' better to do now".

They sat down on the fifth and sixth row to the top and while the seats filled up around them they tried to see who could fit more kettle corn in their mouth - Kelso or Fez? Eric counted for Kelso and Hyde for Fez, while Donna sat laughing and taking pictures with the camera she'd brought with her, and soon it became clear who won and who may need medical attention.

Fez had decided to stuff his mouth with kettle corn and use his drink to better solidify it. Kelso, however, saw this and decided the better approach was to fill his mouth with pop and _then_ stuff in the kettle corn. Needless to say, that did not end well for Kelso or those within spitting distance of him.

Eric and Donna saved their seats while Fez took Kelso to the bathroom to wash his face and Hyde went to get paper towels to clean the mess. He grabbed two rolls and some cleaner from the janitor's closet before turning to make his way back.

He was just a few feet from the door when he heard his name called. A faint smile spread on his face as he saw Jackie leave the other cheerleaders and make her way over to him.

"Steven! You came! With... cleaning supplies?"

"Actually, I came with an idiot who has more hair than brains and seeing as the cheerleaders aren't yet to keep what does have occupied, I get these, sticky benches and slightly-traumatized classmates."

"Well luckily, we're just about to go out so hopefully, Mr. Bray shouldn't be too overworked tomorrow." Hyde snorted after she spoke.

"Please, the whole school could get sent to him and he'd only focus on the girls with the tightest shirts and houses on streets that he just _happens_ to have to frequently drive down." Jackie scrunched up her face.

"Ew." 

"Exactly."

"Anyways, I'll see you after the game?"

"If you want, we were just going to hang out in my friend's basement for the rest of the night." Seemingly and surprisingly satisfied with this answer, Jackie nodded said good-bye, and _then she did it again._

For the second time in twenty-four hours, Jackie Burkhart stood on the tips of her toes and kissed his cheek before leaving him speechless.

Once she was out of sight, Hyde turned to the wall and banged his hand against it. Once. Twice. Thrice. Satisfied with the numb feeling radiating from where he hit his head, Hyde turned and walked as casually as humanly possible to get to the doors, refusing to let his friends be able to detect anything to burn him with.

Back at the seats, Kelso and Fez had returned and although Kelso still looked a little green, he was back to messing around with Fez. Hyde whacked the two of them over the head with the paper towel rolls before shoving the cleaner at them. 

"Damnit, Hyde! Why do we have to clean it up?" Kelso whined despite already moving to start cleaning alongside Fez.

"Shut up."

"Oh, Hyde. Why are you so mad? You haven't been away from Jackie that long!" Hyde moved his head too quickly when Fez said that to be able to deny it - of course, that doesn't mean he didn't try.

"What are you on about?"

"We saw you two when we were heading back from the bathroom, all huddled together, _very sexy_ I must say." Fez waggled his eyebrows and Hyde frogged him.

"Shut up!"

In hindsight, Hyde realizes that he shouldn't have been aggressive in his denial, but now his friends were too far-gone in their burns and teasing for him to be able to do anything to get them to stop.

Hyde flared his nostrils angrily and crossed his arms even tighter than they were before, suddenly dreading her impending visit to the basement.


	14. Chapter Fourteen: The Missing Puzzle Piece

(Jackie's POV)

Technically, Jackie was only on the top of the pyramid, but she felt like she was on top of the world - all thanks to one Steven J. Hyde III and the absolute wonders he does to her without even knowing.

Her whole body becomes a buzz whenever he's near and talking to him makes Jackie feel like she's on cloud nine. But nothing, _nothing_ , could compare to the feeling she gets from when she kisses him.

Granted, these are only kisses on his cheek, but that doesn't stop them from being absolutely fucking _euphoric_. She briefly wonders if he feels the same way afterwards, but Jackie quickly waves that thought away, because how could something _this good_ be simply one-sided?

After she left him in the hallway, Jackie bounced her way towards the other girls, pretending that her giddiness was because of their upcoming performance. As they made their way outside, Jackie walked between Sarah-Grace and Patty as they gossiped about the giant pimple on Sheryl's nose that day.

Despite how much she wanted to, Jackie didn't look for Hyde in the bleachers, not wanting her knees to suddenly become weak and embarrass herself in front of the whole school.

So she jumped, she flipped and she waved her pom-poms around, revelling in the sound of the cheers of her audience, her ears almost pounding by the time the music began to fade out. 

They made their way back to their seats after the performance, the smiles spread across their faces real oppose to their usual falsity. After drinking several sips of water, Jackie takes her seat between Lisa and Josie.

"So," Sarah-Grace starts, her voice perky and bright, "who's coming over for mani-pedi's tonight?" Squeals of delight ripple through the group, signifying that pretty much everyone but Jackie intends to make their way over to the salon - a fact that didn't go unnoticed.

"Jackie, you're coming, aren't you?" Julie, the head ~~bitch~~ cheerleader, questioned with the world's worst impersonation of a nice person.

"Oh, don't bother with _her_ , Jules. She's too busy with her stupid little charity case." Tammy sneered.

"Charity? Jackie! Why didn't you tell me! You know I love helping the hobos!" Lisa whined.

"No, you love it when your dad lets you use his credit card as a reward. And anyway, that's not what I'm going to be doing."

"Well judging by your little kiss with Steven Hyde earlier, it's either that or our dear little Jackie's finally decided to go slumming." The group gasped overdramatically - some with excitement, others with disgust.

"Finally!"

"Gross! You could catch fleas!"

"You're starting with Hyde!? Geez, haven't you ever heard of taking it slow?"

"Slow? When I was with Hyde, I most definitely wasn't yelling for him to go slower."

"Really? Hey, if you send me him my way when you're done, I could put in a good word for you with Kelso."

"Kelso!? That's my boyfriend, Josie! What the hell are you on about!?"

"Chill, Tammy! I meant _Casey_ Kelso!" Josie leaned closer to Jackie's ear and whispered, "Although we all know getting Michael isn't exactly a challenge."

"Why not go for someone nice and rich? Like Buddy Morgan! God, isn't he _dreamy_?"

"Keep your skirt on, Lisa, I heard he has a girlfriend up in Canada."

"His parents are swingers, who's to say he isn't?"

"How the hell do you know that, Patty?"

The conversation quickly turned away from Jackie's relationship with Hyde and into something that was a little too scandalous (and possibly illegal) for her, so she began to tune the voices out, choosing to occupy her brain on more important things, like how is the new Nancy Drew novel going to end, is Hyde ever going to ask her out, should she go to the mall this weekend, should she go with Hyde, etc.

Eventually, the game ended and Jackie sped through the crowd to get her bag from the locker room and out into the parking lot, not wanting one of the other girls to hold her back with some inane question and keep her away from Hyde.

She spotted him pretty quickly, him and his group sticking out like a bouquet of sore thumbs, and confidently strode over in their direction. She spread a big smile across her face, but before she could speak to the person it was directed at, a certain bozo walked between them.

"Hello, Jackie." He said, in a tone that he must for some reason think is sexy, "Tammy's been praising me so much to the other chicks that you decided to come and check it out for yourself?" She laughed as she began to walk around him to get to Hyde.

"Trust me, Kelso, _praise_ is far from the word that I'd use to describe how she talks about you." In actuality, Tammy does speak relatively highly of Kelso, but that definitely doesn't mean he deserves to know that.

"What!?" His voice, now no longer deep, squeaks, "What does she say!? It's all lies, I swear! Hop in the back seat and I'll prove it to you!" He turned to his friends, "Can you guys wait out here for like, five minutes - seven, max - I gotta prove something." Hyde frogged him in the arm.

"Kelso, man," Eric laughed, "I think you already have."

They filed into the car - ignoring Kelso's protests - with Eric and Donna in the front, and the other four squished in the back. Jackie thought herself lucky when she found she only had to sit next to Hyde, but any other arrangement would've been better than how she was pressed into the door.

"Uh, sorry about the lack of space, Jackie. We usually never have more than five people in here." Eric apologized sheepishly.

"What about Tammy?"

"Are you kidding? The Vista-Cruiser would be tainted forever if that hell-spawn ever got in here." The others nodded in agreement while Kelso just laughed.

"Then you're _definitely_ not gonna wanna know what I've been up to in the backseat!"

Fez, the only other person in the car that didn't become incredibly grossed out at that statement, smiled excitedly and turned to his friend.

"No, no! I want to know _all_ the sexy details! What were you wearing?"

"I had on my - "

"No, Kelso! Come on, man! I'm sure Forman doesn't want us making it any grosser in here by vomiting all over the seats."

"Actually, the vomit might make it cleaner." Jackie pondered, trying to take her mind off of what'd happened right where she was sitting.

"In that case, go ahead, Kelso! Let the cleansing begin!" Donna invited, always open to making her boyfriend squirm a little.

"I had on my David Bowie butt-huggers - oh wait, Jackie, you haven't seen me in those. They basically make my ass look like - "

"What? No! Kelso! Shut up, man!"

"Stop interrupting me, Eric!"

"I swear to God _and_ on my mother's grave I will absolutely crash this car."

Hyde leaned forward, grabbed onto Eric's seat and began to speak in his devil voice, "Do it, Eric, it's the only way you can be free! Do it!"

Jackie slapped him gently on the arm, and much to Hyde's delight, it wasn't to reprimand him but rather to signal him (and then the others) to start chanting, "Do it! Do it! Do it!" at Eric before collapsing into giggles - well, technically everyone else laughed, but that doesn't seem to do justice to the sound she made.

Eric then pulled into the Forman's driveway, and the group quickly got out and into the basement, avoiding any run-ins with Mr. and Mrs. Forman, and to Jackie's surprise, she began to feel more at home in this smelly basement than had ever felt anywhere else.

As the night wore on, it started to become clear to everyone that their group had been an incomplete puzzle and Hyde had found their missing piece.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sort of an irrelevant thing to add, but in case it comes across this way, I don't hate those who are considered more popular and/or are on the cheerleading team. I know that they generally aren't superficial, stupid, fake and bitchy (although some are), I just write them this way as this is how they're portrayed in the series.
> 
> Also, Happy Canada Day to everyone else who lives in Canada!


End file.
